Churches are growing beyond the limitations of a single service in one building. Expanding the traditional model, they are embracing the concept of one church with more than one site: multiple congregations sharing a common vision, budget, leadership, and board. Drawing from the examples of churches nationwide, The Multi-Site Church Revolution shows what healthy multi-site churches look like and what motivates congregations to make the change. Discover how your church can: • cast a vision for change • ensure a successful DNA transfer (vision and core values) to its new site • develop new leaders • fund new sites • adapt to structure and staffing change • use technology to support your worship services you’ll identify the reasons churches succeed and how they overcome common snags. The Multi-Site Church Revolution offers guidance, insights, and specific action steps as well as appendixes with practical leadership resources and self-diagnostic tools. “I wholeheartedly recommend this book for any pastor or church leader who needs to know the pertinent issues, tested solutions, and real examples of multi-site strategies that are currently being deployed around the world.” —Ed Young, senior pastor, Fellowship Church “The authors have done their homework. They have firsthand knowledge of the successes and failures of this movement, having been networking with and facilitating dialogue among churches across the country for years.” —Max Lucado, senior minister, Oak Hills Church “Look no further than this book to propel your ministry to Ephesians 3:20 proportions: exceeding abundantly above all that you could ever ask or think!” —Randy and Paula White, senior pastors, Without Walls International Church This book is part of the Leadership Network Innovation Series.

    And as any good manager of a hotel, a store, a restaurant, or an attraction knows, the key to getting guests to come back is not actually the rooms or the product or the food itself; it's how guests feel when they're there. It's about hospitality. No matter how much effort and time we spend on excellence--stirring worship time, inspiring sermons, a good coffee blend in the foyer--what our guests really want when they come to our churches is to feel welcome, comfortable, and understood.Written by a church consultant and a hospitality expert, The Come Back Effect shows church, ministry, and even business leaders the secret to helping a first-time guest return again and again. Through an engaging, story-driven approach, they explain how service and hospitality are two different things, show how Jesus practiced hospitality, and invite leaders to develop and implement changes that lead to repeat visits and, eventually, to sustained growth.

    We must be prepared to be effective stewards of those God brings us. Why should the Church not be the epitome of service at its best, as modeled by the greatest server of all time? Built on The Journey Church of the City's Assimilation Seminar, Fusion embodies a step by step, biblically grounded, tested and proven plan for establishing a relationship with necomers that ultimately prompts them to become fully developing members of our congregations. This innovative, practical guide is full of how to information, testimonials from the recently assimilated and from participating church leaders, examples of the assimilation materials used and check points to make sure the reader is on track. Engaging, informative and immediately applicable, here is help for setting newcomers on the path toward true life transformation and spiritual maturity.

    But do visitors see it that way? Church consultant Gary McIntosh invites readers to take a look at their church through the eyes of visitors and potential visitors. His starting point, grounded in an understanding of God as a "welcomer," is that churches should see those who enter their doors as not merely visitors, but as guests, and themselves as gracious hosts. This practical book offers sound advice on assessing and improving the ways in which churches attract people, welcome them, do follow-up, and bring them into the church family. It also offers suggestions for making a welcoming attitude part of the very fabric of the local church.

    Drawing from his experiences in pioneering and pastoring highly successful churches in Hawaii, Cordiero inspires and instructs others on fulfilling the Lord's desire that His church work together.

    But the greatest advantage is this: You will know that you are doing more than providing exciting activities -- you are changing lives for eternity.A New Strategy for Youth MinistryAndy Stanley and Stuart Hall, both respected and effective leaders in the Christian Community, have developed a ground-breaking, dynamic plan for youth ministry of the coming decades. The Seven Checkpoints for Youth Leaders and the companion The Seven Checkpoints Student Journal presents a plan for a student's entire career in a youth group.The challenges facing our youth grow every year. Quick fixes and short-term programs will not provide the life-strengthening results needed for the teens of today. This revolutionary approach promises and delivers what is needed in the world of youth ministries around the country today.So what are you waiting for? You have a life to build. Open up this book and get the seven.

    A true underdog story. Journey with these young leaders as they do church their way. A diner, driving school and an odd jobs company are just some of the ways this group used to build a thriving church. In "How to Knock Over a 7-Eleven and Other Ministry Training," author and senior pastor Michael Cheshire brings real-life stories to out of the box church work. His humor is unmatched and the insights you get will cut to the core as you journey with him and his team as they build a church from scratch. This book takes you behind the scenes of a radically different way to build a church. It's a valuable resource for those planning to launch a new ministry or for leaders wanting to be more innovative in their community. This is not a story of the traditional church. Michael and his team sacrifice more than a few sacred cows in their pursuit of God's calling. If you're determined to pursue a calling in any type of ministry, this book will only make your fire grow.

    Is there a way for them to combine forces, drawing on both their strengths, in ways that also increase their missional impact? Church merger consultant Jim Tomberlin, with co-writer Warren Bird, makes the case that mergers today work best not with two struggling churches but with a vital, momentum-filled lead church partnering with a joining church. In this new book, they provide a complete, practical, hands-on guide for church leaders of both struggling and vibrant churches so that they can understand the issues, develop strategies, and execute a variety of forms of merger for church expansion and renewal to reinvigorate declining churches and give them a second life.

    Are you making your first-time guests feel welcome? Or are you driving them away—unintentionally—with bad signage, reserved seating, clunky communication and more? In this practical book, Jonathan Malm examines 50 ways churches make first-time visitors feel unwelcome. The transgressions range from insider lingo to awkward transitions, a cold congregation to the over-eager greeter. With all 50 church faux pas, Jonathan suggests ways to not only fix the problem, but also infuse excellence into the situation so churches can put their best foot forward with first-time guests. A few simple changes can help your church roll out the welcome mat for your guests.

    But what churches really need is a process that is flexible, not bound to a particular time or current fad. In The Nuts and Bolts of Church Planting, trusted author and church-planting expert Aubrey Malphurs shares the basic steps any church planter will need, regardless of his or her generation now or in the future. These steps includeestablishing values, mission, vision, and strategyreaching the communitymaking disciplesrecruiting a teamdetermining location and facilitiesraising money for the ministryWith instant practical takeaway based on proven techniques, this book will be invaluable to any church planter.

    Today the church is awakening to the truth that ministry is not just the domain of clergy, but belongs to the entire body of Christ. God is moving her to complete her unfinished business of placing the ministry back in the hands of the people. Unfinished Business has played a pivotal part in helping the church reclaim ministry at the grassroots level. First published in 1990 as The New Reformation, it has become a classic resource for church life. Expanding on and updating the original material with fresh examples and references to eight key important movements, this new edition lays foundations for the church to move from: · Passive to active · Maintenance to mission · Clergy to people of God · Teacher/caregiver to equipping enabler Pointing us back to the church as an organism, not an institution, author Greg Ogden shows how each of us is called to help finish the Reformation’s unfinished business: expressing the priesthood of every believer practically in the church, the world, and all avenues of life.

    It's a strategy that enabled Osborne's congregation to grow from a handful of people to one of the larger churches in the nation—without any marketing or special programming. Sticky Church tells the inspiring story of North Coast Church's phenomenal growth and offers practical tips for launching your own sermon-based small group ministry.Topics include:Why stickiness is so importantWhy most of our discipleship models don’t work very wellWhy small groups always make a church more honest and transparentWhat makes groups grow deeper and sticker over timeSticky Church is an ideal book for church leaders who want to start or retool their small group ministry—and velcro their congregation to the Bible and each other.

    Some choose to respond to the most urgent needs, while others seek a more balanced and intentional approach. But what determines these priorities? Where should a busy pastor look for wisdom in making decisions?In the Pastor’s Ministry, pastor and author Brian Croft looks to the Scriptures to determine the top ten priorities for a faithful pastoral ministry. These biblically rooted responsibilities help pastors determine how to spend their time and with greater discernment respond to the demands of the church. Each of these priorities is rooted in a direct command of God’s Word, including: Guarding the TruthPreaching and Teaching the WordPraying for the FlockSetting an ExampleVisiting the SickComforting the GrievingCaring for WidowsConfronting SinEncouraging the Faint-HeartedIdentifying and Training Other LeadersTo be successful and faithful in pastoral ministry, every pastor needs to understand these core callings and make them part of his regular practice.  These ten responsibilities guide how a pastor schedules his time, helping him to lay the foundation for a biblically faithful ministry in his church.

    The clock is every pastor’s nemesis. Between meetings, administration, counseling, and other duties, it’s hard to find enough time for sermon prep.Unless you change the process.8 Hours Or Less will show preachers how to write the same sermons they’ve been writing, but in half the time. Author Ryan Huguley reveals:The biggest time-wasters in sermon prepThe five marks of a faithful sermonA day-by-day plan for writing sermonsTips for preparing your mind, heart, and notes for preachingCommon pitfalls in ending a sermonAnd moreHuguley is a pastor and the host of a podcast featuring leaders like Matt Chandler, Doug Wilson, and Nancy Ortberg. What he shares in 8 Hours or Less is a process he’s been refining for six years, and it has radically improved both his preaching and experience in ministry.  Why work harder when you can work smarter? 8 Hours or Less brings relief to the time crunch and helps pastors be healthier, more balanced, and more effective—all without making their sermons suffer for it.

    the smoke rises ... the band starts playing. It's a familiar scene, as youth ministers everywhere use entertaining and trendy approaches to draw in teens. But when the lights come on and the fog clears, what do we find?Far too many teenagers raised in Christian homes drift away from the church after high school. Why is this true? Could it be because youth groups, in seeking to elevate experience over truth, have left teens dissatisfied and hungry for that truth?Brian Cosby demonstrates a ministry approach that nurtures teens and brings them back for more--one solidly grounded in Christ and patterned after the means of grace: the Word, sacraments, prayer, service, and community. Learn how much teenagers not only need a deeper ministry, but want one too.